MOSCOW. – How paradoxical it may sound, the addressees of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s call to Turkey, for the latter to review its position on the Armenian Genocide issue, were not so much Turkey and Armenia, but rather his country’s voters, whom he is losing by the day, Russian Kommersant newspaper’s commentator Sergei Strokan stated.  

In his words, it is important to understand the subtext of that statement. “Sarkozy, whose rating has reduced to 26 percent and who must run for reelection next year, visited the South Caucasus whose crucial element was Yerevan. The main thing is that he needs to receive, in some way, the votes of the Armenian Diaspora in France,” Strokan noted.     

“There is also a paradox within France. The Armenian Genocide is not formally recognized. After the lower house’s recognition of the Genocide the upper house did not do that. So, Sarkozy demands from Turkey what France did not do in full,” the analyst maintained. 

According to him, Yerevan expects more pro-Armenian stance from Sarkozy, but he cannot afford to do that in order not to deteriorate relations with Baku.  

Strokan also noted that the French President took the renowned French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour with him to Armenia, and “now the observers are mocking that this visit was an ‘Aznavour’ Operation to receive the votes of Armenian voters. But he will also visit Baku, and, of course, the Armenian Diaspora will enviously follow as to what he will say there, and solely calls for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict are not enough,” he stated.  

The analyst is of the opinion that Sarkozy was able to make Yerevan have a positive disposition toward him, but for him his own voters are the most important. “And I believe the reaction would be more restrained, since the French electorate is fairly demanding and experienced,” Sergei Strokan concluded.